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Body of missing boater in collision recovered; 3 still missing

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The San Bernardino Marine Enforcement Unit is assisting Mohave County Sheriff’s Department with a boat collision on the Colorado River

By Allen Cone, UPI

One of the four missing people in a boat collision on the Colorado River along the Arizona-California border was recovered about 36 hour later on Monday morning, authorities said.

The victim was as identified as Christi Lewis, 51, from California, the Mohave County Sheriff's Office of Arizona said in a Facebook post.

The Sheriff's Office, which found the body at 7:30 a.m., said it "will continue to patrol the Colorado River until all the unaccounted for passengers are located."

Searching for the missing men are rescue boats, divers and helicopters from the Mohave County Sheriff's Office and the San Bernardino Sheriff's Office of California.

Two boats collided around 8 p.m. Saturday between Pirates Cove and Topock Marina in Needles, Calif., and north of Lake Havasu, Ariz. One woman was airlifted to University Medical Center in Las Vegas in critical condition and nine other people were transported to area hospitals by ambulance.

The Hallet boat with 10 people aboard was northbound and a Sleek Craft boat, occupied by six people, was southbound when they collided head on. Both boats sank and all of the occupants were ejected into the water, the Sheriff's Office said.

The boats were traveling about 50 mph when they hit head-on, according to an emergency dispatcher whose report was released Sunday.

It has not been determined whether speed played a factor in the crash, Anita Mortensen, a sheriff's spokeswoman, said.